Written Answers

Thursday 12 October 2000

Scottish Executive

Alcohol Misuse

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to tackle the levels of severe alcohol addiction in Scotland.

Iain Gray: The Scottish Executive is committed to tackling alcohol misuse and is working towards a comprehensive new strategy for tackling alcohol misuse in Scotland. Service provision, prevention and health promotion will form key components of the emerging strategy.

Cancer

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the average waiting times are for cancer treatment by cancer type, broken down by health board.

Susan Deacon: Cancer is one of the three clinical priorities for the NHS in Scotland. Reducing waiting times for investigation and treatment are a high priority within the Scottish Cancer Group’s work programme.

  Initial treatment for cancer can take place in either an outpatient or inpatient setting. Information on waiting times for cases where treatment starts in an outpatient setting is not held centrally.

  Information on the time from a patient being placed on the waiting list for treatment of cancer and their admission to hospital is available centrally. The median waiting times for the four main cancers and all other cancers, in the year ending 31 March 2000, by health board of residence, is given in the table.

  The Scottish Executive is providing additional funding to support the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. I recently announced a rolling modernisation programme which will provide new linear accelerators and treatment planning simulators in all cancer centres, new and replacement MRI scanners, and imaging equipment to help further speed up diagnosis.

  NHS In Scotland: Median Waiting Time For Hospital Admission For Treatment For The Main Four Cancers And All Other Cancers: 31 March 2000p

  


Health Board


Colorectal Cancer


Lung Cancer


Breast Cancer


Ovarian Cancer


All Other Cancers



 

Median Wait
(Days)


Median 
Wait
(Days)


Median 
Wait
(Days)


Median 
Wait
(Days)


Median 
Wait
(Days)




Argyll and Clyde


6


7


5


3


11




Ayrshire and Arran


9


5


7


6


15




Borders


7


6


7


9


14




Dumfries and Galloway


14


7


15


14


17




Fife


10


4


14


11


17




Forth Valley


9


6


7


3


12




Grampian


7


5


7


18


10




Greater Glasgow


4


7


7


5


11




Highland


9


4


12


9


10




Lanarkshire


8


5


6


3


12




Lothian


13


11


14


11


18




Orkney


8


7


11


18


7




Shetland


8


6


8


19


12




Tayside


19


9


16


14


24




Western Isles


7


5


12


7


10




Scotland


8


7


8


8


13




  Source: ISD Scotland.

  p provisional.

Community Care

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether local authorities are obliged to complete form SWSG 2/97 in terms of the Community Care Plans (Information) Directions.

Iain Gray: The form referred to is at the Schedule to the Community Care Plans (Information) Directions 1997, which compares projected costs of residential care for older people in council homes and independent sector care homes. Local authorities are required to include the information from the form:

  (a) in their Community Care Plans and

  (b) annually at the council committee debating the community care budget.

Community Care

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will provide core funding to Survivors Poetry Scotland in order to extend its activities across Scotland for people who have experienced psychiatric abuse or similar problems.

Iain Gray: Applications for funding support are given equal consideration against the limited resources available. I understand that Survivors Poetry Scotland is considering whether to apply for funding under section 10 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968.

Disabled People

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has any plans to promote the growth of commercial businesses known as "social firms" which are run with the aim of providing employment for people who are disabled and disadvantaged in the labour market.

Iain Gray: Scottish Enterprise has recently met Social Firms Scotland, and is considering ways in which they might facilitate social business development.

  Social Firms have a useful part to play in the ongoing consideration of all aspects of the whole person approach to well-being, and of education, training and employment opportunities for people with disabilities, mental health problems, or with other support needs. This is of interest to the work of the National Action Group, established in response to the Beattie Report, the Learning Disability Review, and the Mental Health and Well-Being Support group.

Drug Misuse

Nick Johnston (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is giving additional funding to Fife, Perth and Kinross and Clackmannanshire Councils to provide immediate counselling, secure accommodation and therapy to drug addicts in view of the increase in deaths from drug overdoses, and, if so, how much.

Iain Gray: We announced on 29 September that an additional £7 million is being made available in each of the next three years for drug rehabilitation. The greater part of this will go to local authorities. Details of allocations to each local authority, including those mentioned, will be announced later.

Housing

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has made representations to Her Majesty’s Government regarding the removal of VAT on house repairs given the contribution this could make to improving the quality of housing stock in Scotland and, if so, what the outcome was of such representations.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Scottish Executive and Her Majesty’s Government are frequently in touch on a range of issues including taxation issues, which remain reserved to the Westminster Parliament. We continue to liaise with the relevant Whitehall departments to ensure that Scottish interests are taken into account.

Housing

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what further action it is taking to encourage the use of a single sellers’ survey as part of the house buying process.

Ms Wendy Alexander: The Common Repair Working Group, chaired by my Department with representatives from a number of interested parties, has commissioned the preparation of two leaflets for owners and prospective owners explaining their responsibilities in respect of the repair and maintenance of communally owned property. In addition Home Point, the housing information and advice unit in Scottish Homes, has published two more general advisory leaflets for home owners.

  In the Programme for Government, published last September, we also indicated that we would seek to improve the house buying process by supporting measures which avoid additional costs for home buyers resulting from multiple surveys and valuations.

  Since then we have been monitoring the progress of the two market-led pilots in Scotland and have had a number of discussions with interested parties on how best sellers’ surveys might be taken forward in Scotland. In particular, we are liaising with the Scottish Consumer Council which has recently published a report Home Truths which recommended the development of voluntary "independent" survey schemes, backed by a guarantee for the buyer.

Legislation

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to introduce legislation to ensure greater protection for allotment holders.

Mr Frank McAveety: Allotments are essentially a local matter, in which the local authority is best placed to assess the needs of the inhabitants of its area, develop policy on allotments and administer allotment provision as they best see fit.

  As such, there are no plans to introduce greater protective legislation. We will be looking at the role of best practice guidance on allotments.

MMR Vaccine

Mr Kenneth Macintosh (Eastwood) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that children are inoculated against measles, mumps and rubella following public concerns over the MMR vaccine.

Susan Deacon: The Chief Medical Officer wrote to health boards, general practitioners and Primary Care Teams in 1998 and 1999 to provide them with detailed information about the investigations which have taken place into alleged links between MMR and Crohn’s disease and autism. This letter also asked for their help in reassuring parents and encouraging them to have their children vaccinated with MMR.

  In addition, the Health Education Board for Scotland has produced a leaflet designed to answer parents’ questions and allay any concerns they may have about MMR vaccination. The leaflet has been issued to health boards and general practitioners.

  Current uptake figures indicate that 93.1% of children under 24 months in Scotland received MMR vaccination in the second quarter of 2000. We wish to see this figure rise to the target of 95% so that a sufficient level of immunity is achieved to prevent epidemics of these potentially serious diseases.

Meningitis C

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive where and when the stage 1 and stage 2 clinical trials for the meningitis C vaccine were carried out.

Susan Deacon: The three meningococcal C conjugate vaccines that are currently licensed in the UK were approved primarily on the basis of immunogenicity studies conducted from around 1995 onwards as follows:

  Meningitec – studies in the US and the UK;

  Menjugate – studies in the US, Canada, Netherlands and UK;

  Neisvac C – studies in the US and the UK

  In addition, there are ongoing trials with all three vaccines, including some trials that incorporate UK study sites.

Meningitis C

Brian Adam (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, in developing its approach to the clinical use of the meningitis C vaccine, it obtained information about practice in other countries and, if so, whether it is aware of any other countries which have approved the meningitis C vaccine for clinical use.

Susan Deacon: The UK was the first country to grant licences for the meningococcal group C conjugate vaccines.

  Of the three vaccines licensed in the UK (i.e. Meningitec, Menjugate and NeisVac C), Meningitec has since been approved in Belgium, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal and Spain. Menjugate has also recently been approved in Ireland.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-9442 by Iain Gray on 15 September 2000, why there will be no increase in mental illness specific grant in the current year and why the grant is being maintained at the 1995-96 level.

Iain Gray: The current level of spending was determined in the Comprehensive Spending Review held in 1998, which looked at spending requirements in 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2001-02 in the light of priorities at the time. We announced on 20 September that we are increasing Mental Illness Specific Grant to £19 million for 2001-02 and subsequent years.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when those figures for the amount of the mental illness specific grant paid by each local authority to individual projects in previous years which are not readily available at present will be available.

Iain Gray: I wrote to Mr Ingram and provided him with information about individual projects receiving grant in 2000-01. Information for previous years could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

NHS Funding

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-5152 by Susan Deacon on 31 March 2000, why capital expenditure in the NHS was £324.53 million in total during 1997, 1998 and 1999, when capital allocations amounted to £428 million in the same period.

Susan Deacon: As explained in the answer to question S1W-5152, there are two main reasons for the variance between capital provision and recorded capital expenditure in any one year. These are: slippage of particular schemes where expenditure planned to be met in one year falls to be made in the following year; and the transfer of capital resources to revenue budgets to pay for minor works of a capital nature that do not add capital value to the NHS estate.

NHS Funding

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive why the level of slippage in the NHS capital schemes has increased since 1997 and what plans it has to ensure slippage is minimised in future and that all capital allocations are spent in any given financial year.

Susan Deacon: The level of capital slippage in any year is determined by a range of factors, including the characteristics and spending profile of particular projects. It will therefore vary from year to year.

  The Scottish Executive monitors spending on particular projects against expenditure profiles provided by individual health boards and NHS Trusts, and has emphasised to them the need for profiles to be updated regularly so that any potential slippage is identified as early as possible and any resources underspent on a particular project in one year can be carried forward to the next. Prudent financial and project management means that it is not always appropriate for the whole of the capital allocation made available for a particular year to be spent in that year.

NHS Funding

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the NHS is permitted to transfer underspent capital allocations between health boards or carry them over into subsequent financial years.

Susan Deacon: Any underspending against profile on a specific capital project in one year is carried forward to the next year. The Scottish Executive can adjust each health board’s and NHS Trust’s capital allocation during any financial year, which could have the effect of transferring an underspent capital allocation from one NHS body to another. However, where underspending arises from slippage on a specific project, it will normally be more prudent to enable the underspend to be carried forward to the following financial year.

NHS Funding

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the NHS capital allocations for 2000-01 and 2001-02 include underspent capital allocations for previous years or are in addition to these sums.

Susan Deacon: Currently, the level of resources allocated for capital investment in the NHS in Scotland during 2000-01 and 2001-02 total £179 million and £194 million respectively. In addition, capital resources of £30 million were made available during 2000-01 for investment in medical equipment and other areas of the NHS.

  Any resources carried forward from the previous year due to capital slippage will be added to future year totals.

NHS Funding

Mr Kenneth Gibson (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it discusses with health boards their capital requirements, investment priorities and timescale for implementation prior to allocating NHS capital provision.

Susan Deacon: Yes. The Scottish Executive discusses these and other matters with health boards and NHS Trusts regularly and in particular in the context of Health Improvement Programmes and Trust Implementation Plans.

NHS Funding

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what has been the increase in real terms in the capital spend budget for the Fife Acute Hospitals NHS Trust from financial year 1996-97 to 1999-2000 inclusive.

Susan Deacon: The capital resources available to Fife Acute Hospitals NHS Trust and the two predecessor Trusts for 1996-97 to 1999-2000 are shown in the following table calculated at constant 1999-2000 prices:

  

 

1996-97
£000


1997-98
£000


1998-99
£000


1999-2000
£000




Capital Pool


4,043


750


Nil


Nil




Formula Capital


3,516


1,497


1,579


1,569




Total


7,559*


2,247*


1,579


1,569




  *Capital resources were specifically made available from the capital pool in 1996-97 and 1997-98 to enable improvements to be made to the Victoria Hospital in Kirkcaldy.

Roads

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to implement "Smart Measures" such as ramp metering, variable message signs and variable speed limits on the M8 such as currently used by the Highways Agency on the M25.

Sarah Boyack: The "Smart Measures" that are in place on the M8 include the following:

  Ramp Metering – the Scottish Executive has been at the forefront of the development of ramp metering in the UK and presently has a very successful site operating at junction 16 slip road on the M8 in Glasgow. A study is presently underway to consider in what situations further slip road sites would provide benefits to travellers. Further ramp metering will be introduced where benefits can be demonstrated.

  Variable Message Signs – there are presently five fully functional variable message signs, 33 single line gantry mounted variable message signs and 162 lane control signal gantries on the M8. The coverage of the Scottish trunk road network continues to be increased year on year with new signs being erected at appropriate locations.

  Both the existing ramp metering site and the various variable message signs are controlled and operated through the National Driver Information and Control System. This is one of the few national systems and has a capability which is among the most advanced anywhere in the world. Arrangements can be made for interested MSPs to visit the National Network Control Centre in Glasgow to see this leading edge system.

  Variable Speed Limits – The Scottish Executive is committed to investigating the use of peak hour speed limits to control traffic speeds in congested areas. Where a value for money case can be made for the introduction of such measures at specific locations then each location shall be considered on its own merits.

Rural Affairs

Dr Sylvia Jackson (Stirling) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive why the financial limits for agri-environment schemes are not the same in Scotland as they are in the rest of the UK.

Ross Finnie: The position in Scotland is not directly comparable to that of the rest of the UK because of differences in farm structure and in the agri-environment schemes themselves. The financial limits for Scottish agri-environment schemes ensure that large farms do not consume a disproportionate share of finite resources to the detriment of smaller farms and crofts which could nonetheless demonstrate a conservation benefit.

Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body

Holyrood Project

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer what the specific role of RMJM is in the Design Team for the Holyrood Project.

Sir David Steel: The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body’s first report to MSPs of 9 June 1999 explained that RMJM Scotland Limited are partners with EMBT in the joint venture company EMBT/RMJM Limited, the architects of the new Parliament building. RMJM Services also separately provide mechanical and electrical engineering design services to the project.

Holyrood Project

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body will give a projected breakdown, including recipients, of the £26 million in respect of consultants’ fees for the Holyrood Project and what scope there is for all or any element of any fees not to be incurred.

Sir David Steel: The Auditor General’s report on the new Scottish Parliament building, made available to MSPs on 19 September, gave latest approximate forecast outturn costs for the main project consultants at exhibit 14. I understand from the Convener of the Holyrood Progress Group that the majority of the individual fee agreements are based on a percentage of the construction cost and it is therefore unlikely that there will be any reduction in the total figure.

Holyrood Project

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Presiding Officer whether the levels of payment of remuneration in respect of the Holyrood Project consultants’ fees will be or have been checked to ensure compliance with EU, UK and Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland guidelines on best practice.

Sir David Steel: The appointments of the main consultants to the Holyrood Project, including agreement on fee levels, were made prior to 1 June 1999 and were therefore the responsibility of the Scottish Office. I understand however that each member of the Design Team has been appointed under the appropriate terms of appointment as issued by the professional body relevant to their individual disciplines. The standard terms were amended to take into account the particular nature of the project and the specific requirements of the Client. The Construction Manager’s contract, for which there is no industry standard, was based on closely related contracts and was agreed by Scottish Office legal advisers. The Spencely report studied the consultants’ fees and described them as conventional. The Auditor General for Scotland’s recent report confirmed that, in general terms, the appointments of the consultants were properly undertaken.